


Reveal

by Paige242



Category: Superman & Lois (TV 2021)
Genre: F/M, Future Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-20 06:14:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30000507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paige242/pseuds/Paige242
Summary: After an inexplicable accident, Jordan finally tells her the truth.
Relationships: Sarah Cushing/Jordan Kent
Comments: 7
Kudos: 49





	Reveal

**Author's Note:**

> After episode 3 I am actually sort of on board with Sarah/Jordan. I’m sure it won’t play out like this, but here is a silly little future fic exploring one way she could find out.

It was a bit of a cliche, but sometimes life really could change in an instant. 

They had been crossing the bridge. Chatting and laughing about their day at school. They’d done this countless times in their two years of dating. Their walks were a predictable but treasured part of their routine and there had never been the least bit of trouble before. 

But, today, the sound of screeching tires had ripped through the air, snapping them out of their pleasant state. 

A car, moving at top speed, tore onto the bridge, out of control and dangerously off course. Sarah had screamed before feeling a force push her to the ground. 

It all happened so fast. 

She’d felt the impact shake the ground around her. Her first thought— the logical thought— was that it had hit the bridge. 

But she’d looked up to see her boyfriend standing at the hood of the car, the metal hood bent around his frame. 

For a fleeting second, their eyes met. 

He was okay. 

Then she had blinked, her head spinning and her mind racing. 

And when she had looked again, Jordan was gone. 

xxxxxx

Night had fallen now and Sarah found herself walking up the dirt road that led to the Kent family farm. 

The rest of her day had been a blur. 

After the crash, the police had arrived and taken her statement and the paramedics had carted the drunk driver away (he would live, apparently, but the car was bent beyond repair). She wasn’t sure why, but Sarah had found herself evading the truth as the authorities pressed her on what had happened. 

She told them that she’d been walking alone and had jumped to the side. 

No one else had been around, and the driver had been too inebriated to remember anything. 

Maybe she was crazy (it did feel like she was losing it today) but hiding Jordan’s presence felt like the right thing to do. 

She had no idea what had really happened, and no idea why he had disappeared so abruptly. He hadn’t answered her calls or texts all day and she hadn’t been able to escape a trip to the ER or her flustered parents until now. It had taken a lot of convincing, but she had finally forced them to cave allow her to go see him. She’d claimed that seeing her boyfriend was the only way she was going to calm down after her terrifying day— but the truth was, she just needed to know what the hell had happened. 

It was all a bit hazy, but her limited memories and all of the evidence seemed to suggest that Jordan had stopped the car. 

It seemed impossible. It WAS impossible. 

And he owed her an explanation. 

She had intended to walk right up to the house but the sound of two familiar voices from the barn made her change course as she neared the heart of the property. There was a flickering light just beyond the door and, feeling emboldened after her near-death experience, she pushed it open without hesitation. 

Jordan and Jonathan were sitting on stacks of hay, a few forgotten cans of soda scattered around. Jordan looked upset, and Jon looked concerned— as she stepped closer, the lighter haired twin stood up and turned to his brother. 

“Just do it, Jor, you have to.” He said gently before offering her a weak wave. 

“See you, Sarah.” 

It was an oddly abrupt exit, and it was pretty clear that they had been talking about her before she arrived. Nevertheless, she was glad to be alone with her boyfriend. This day had dragged on long enough and she felt an overwhelming need to figure things out. 

“Are you avoiding me?” She asked, crossing her arms across her chest as Jordan looked awkwardly down at the barn floor. “Because it sure as hell feels like it.” 

“No,” he answered quickly before amending his answer. “Well yeah, kinda I guess. I’m sorry, it’s not you.” 

That didn’t help matters. She pressed on. 

“It kinda feels like it’s about me. You left me alone at the scene of a car crash, Jordan. I wasn’t even sure if you were okay and you just...disappeared. You ignored me all day and now you’re acting weird,” she drew a deep breath, incensed, “this isn’t like you and this isn’t like us. We always talk, about everything! I need to know what is going on.” 

She watched him run a hand through his dark hair. He was clearly still nervous and was yet to meet her eyes. 

Something was definitely up.

“I can’t talk to you about everything,” he whispered, shaking his head with regret, “I wish I could but I can’t.” 

“Oh,” she said, her confusion and annoyance still unwavering. “You mean, you can’t talk to me about how you stopped a speeding car dead in its tracks?” She pressed. 

The boy flinched. 

“The police came after you ran off,” Sarah began again, recalling the hectic scene she’d had to endure alone. “They were absolutely baffled, you know. The car was all bent out of shape at the front, as if it had hit something. A human shaped something. And they said, at the speed it was going, it should have gone right through the railings and into the river.” 

Jordan finally looked up and for the first time she noticed some hints of red around his eyes, as if he had been tearing up. That only served to confuse her further- was he upset about escaping the situation unscathed? The police had said it was a miracle that no one had died. 

“Did...did you tell them I was there?” He asked, still offering her nothing. 

She sighed before taking a few strides towards him and sitting down in Jonathan’s old spot on the adjacent hay bale. 

“No,” she said, eliciting an instant breath of relief from her boyfriend, “I told them I was alone. But,” she paused, looking towards his hunched over form, “I need to know what really happened, Jordan.You saved my life. I think you saved that driver’s life too. It’s all so impossible, though. People can’t just...stop cars.” 

It sounded absurd as she said it and she found herself holding back a laugh. 

A heavy silence fell over the barn and she watched him open and close his hands several times. She could tell that his mind was racing, it was one of his nervous ticks. 

“No,” he finally agreed, looking back towards her, “you’re right, regular people can’t stop cars.” 

She furrowed her brow. “So...are you saying it didn’t happen, or,” she paused, once again feeling ridiculous for even saying it, “are you saying that you’re not a regular person?” 

Her heart was pounding now. On the one hand, she knew this whole conversation was crazy— but she also couldn’t shake the strange feeling that she was onto something. 

Something big. 

She loved Jordan. He was kind, and brilliant, and they had always just clicked. He understood her in ways that no one else could and the last two years had been better than she could have asked for. The grim haze she’d always felt had finally lifted when she was with him. 

He was her escape. 

And yet, a lot of little moments had given her pause. This wasn’t the first time he’d run off. And there were times that he would seem overly awkward and uncomfortable for no reason. Sometimes, it felt like there was more to a story than he was telling her.

But she had always brushed those things off. Generally, stuff was good—and everyone had their quirks.

But maybe there was more too it than simply quirks. Jordan was certainly treating the current situation with a hell of a lot of gravity. 

It looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

“I...” he tried to speak but she could hear the quiver in his voice. Silently, she placed a reassuring hand on his. 

“I’m not a regular person.” 

Sarah let out a tense breath. 

Okay, that was an odd statement but she couldn’t say that it was entirely shocking after today’s events. 

“Alright, how so?” She asked. 

Beside her, she could feel Jordan stiffen. 

“Well, you said it yourself, you saw the car and the aftermath. You saw me there and you know what I did. That’s not normal. I can’t deny that.” 

She felt a pang of annoyance at his vague answer but she reminded herself to be patient. He was clearly struggling with whatever this was. And he probably wasn’t going to manage to get it out unless she got closer. 

“Right, okay,” she said, trying to gather her thoughts, “but what caused this? I know there have been some pretty sketchy government experiments done in people.” A sudden thought occurred to her, “your grandfather is high up in the military- did he do something? Inject you with a secret formula?” 

To her surprise, Jordan laughed at this suggestion. “No, it’s not like that,” he confirmed, shaking his head. “No one experimented on me. Thank god.”

She was glad to see his mood lift for a second, but that did not detract from her determination.

“Fine then, are you just going to make me keep guessing or are you going to tell me what the hell is going on?” 

He looked towards her with wide, worried eyes but still didn’t speak. 

Guessing game it was. 

“Are you human?” She asked, deciding to start big. 

To her surprise, he instantly paled and his head jolted back, as if zapped by a bolt of electricity. 

She hadn’t really expected a reaction so such a crazy question. Her own heart began to pound. 

No. 

It couldn’t be true...

“I don’t know how to answer that,” he whispered, once again frustratingly evasive. 

Sarah threw up her hands and let out a small huff. Was he really going to play it this way? 

It should have been a straightforward response...right?

“Are you human, Jordan?” she repeated as clearly as she possibly could. “It’s a yes or no question!”

His head snapped back towards her and, this time, she could see a hint of anger in his eyes. 

“It’s not a yes or no question,” he declared, suddenly standing up and pacing across the discarded hay on the barn floor. She heard him mutter something unintelligible to himself as he stopped in front of an old box of rusty tools. He picked one up and, much to her surprise, she watched as he bent the metal implement in half before tossing it carelessly aside. 

Another silence fell as the sound of the clanging metal faded. 

She still had no idea what was going on, but he was definitely anxious and had just implied that his differences were bigger than she ever could have anticipated. 

Her heart felt as if it was going to pound its way out of her chest. 

“It’s a question I grapple with every day, Sarah,” Jordan finally confessed, the redness in his eyes more apparent than it had been a moment ago. “I’m sorry, I know I’m doing a shitty job of explaining things right now but I’ve never had to tell anyone this before.” He paused, taking a deep breath, “but I think Jon is right. I love you, and I trust you, and I never wanted to lie to you in the first place but it’s kind of a big deal.” 

She nodded before standing up and walking over to where he stood. She could see the pain and emotion on his face and she lay a gentle hand on his arm, hoping it provided some small degree of reassurance. 

Part of her wanted to tell him that it was okay. That he didn’t need to tell her anything else. 

But the thought of that mangled car wrapped around his body replayed in her mind over and over again. 

This was hard, but she knew that they couldn’t move forward together unless they were on the same page. 

“Promise me that you can keep this secret,” he began, his arm shaking beneath her touch, “and promise me that you’ll try not to see me any differently. I never wanted you to see me differently.” The last part was barely a whisper. 

She nodded. “I promise, Jordan.” 

He steadied himself, his eyes locking with hers. Then finally, it came. 

“I’m half human,” he began, a raw vulnerability in his tone, “and half kryptonian. That’s why I could stop the car. I’m strong. And fast. I...have powers. Kryptonian powers.” 

Her breath breath caught in her throat and she had to remind herself to exhale as she tried to absorb what he had just said. 

She was doing her best to keep her cool, as promised, but it was a lot. Her boyfriend had just told her he was part human and part...from another planet. 

She knew aliens existed, of course. There had been many incidents over the past few years. But she had never expected them to be hiding in plain sight. 

No. 

She instantly berated herself for thinking in those terms. He was Jordan, no matter what. This secret didn’t change all of the things that she knew and loved about him. 

“Kryptonian,” she whispered, finally managing to meet his eyes again, “like...Superman?” 

He looked up to the ceiling for a moment before answering. “Yeah,” he said pointedly, “like dad.” 

It was her turn to laugh now. Just when she thought this conversation could get any weirder...

“What?” She asked, the skepticism clear on her face. “Wait...your mom did all those articles about him,” her eyes widened as a terrible thought crossed her mind, “I hate to ask it, Jordan, but are you saying your mom had an affair with Superman?” 

Sarah couldn’t picture it. Mr. and Mrs. Kent had always seemed so happy together, unlike her own parents. 

Jordan looked a bit calmer now that he’d finally started opening up and she watched as he shook his head, a hint of amusement in his eyes. “God, no,” he declared firmly, “mom would never cheat on dad. Clark Kent is clearly my father, look at me.” 

He gestured at himself as if that was all the proof she needed. And, she realized, it really was. Jordan looked more and more like his dad with every passing year, it wasn’t the first time she had noticed the family resemblance. 

But as she began to think it all through, another realization struck, sending a wave of shock through her body. 

Dark hair, broad shoulders, athletic build, square jaw, piercing eyes...

How could she have been so blind? 

The answer had been right in front of her all along.

“Then...you’re saying that Clark Kent is Superman,” she said, in more of a statement than a question. Your dad, the clumsy friendly small-town guy, is actually the kryptonian superhero who has saved the world on countless occasions?” 

She could see from the expression on Jordan’s face that she had finally nailed it. 

He nodded slowly before letting out a long breath, “yeah, I know. It’s a lot,” he began, “it’s hard to believe that those stupid glasses actually work.” 

She had to laugh at that. It was an absurdly simply disguise and yet, no matter how many times she had been face to face with Jordan’s dad, she hadn’t suspected a thing. 

“Your dad is Superman,” she repeated, the awe apparent in her voice. It was hard to believe that she’d basically met a celebrity hundreds of times without even knowing it. “And you’re what? Superboy?” 

Her boyfriend let out an instant groan and brought his hand to his forehead. Apparently, he wasn’t a fan of that moniker. “Urgh, I hope that doesn’t become a thing,” he muttered before locking eyes with her, “I’m uncharted territory,” he said with a bit of a shrug, “Jon and I are the only kryptonian-human hybrids in history and we’re kind just figuring it out as we go. Remember when I fell in the barn, and that day the bonfire exploded?” 

Sarah nodded, recalling both incidents very well. They had been strange too, but she now had a feeling there was a good explanation. 

“Those were my first displays of power. Before that, I thought I was normal and mom and dad hadn’t even told us the truth.” 

Her eyes widened at this. He’d only know his true identity for three years, no wonder he was still struggling with it. 

“I stopped the steel beams from crushing Jon and I, and I blew up the bonfire with heat vision.” 

Her mouth fell open at that last remark. Super strength was one thing, but it was hard to picture her boyfriend blowing things up with his eyes. She had seen footage of Superman doing it before and it had always struck her as the scariest power. 

“Woah.” 

“Yeah,” Jordan agreed, understanding her sense of surprise. He’d probably felt it too, back in the day. “They had to tell us after that and my powers slowly started growing. I’m not as powerful as dad, but I’m pretty strong now and I’m impervious to pain. That’s how I stopped the car earlier.” 

Sarah nodded. That made sense. The metal had wrapped around him as if it was nothing, and she was almost certain that she had seen a glimpse of a hand-print shaped dent on the hood of the car. 

“Do you have other powers?” She asked, curious. 

She could see the faintest smile on his face now. He seemed relieved— and, maybe, happy to finally share all of this with her.

It stung a bit to think that he’d been hiding this huge part of his life from her for years but she could tell that he had taken no pleasure in it. And this was pretty earth-shattering stuff with implications for more than just himself. Keeping secrets kept his father safe, and Sarah knew how deeply he loved his father. 

“I can’t fly yet, if that’s what you’re asking,” he laughed. “Strength is the biggest thing for me,” he noted, “but I can run quickly, in little bursts. That’s the newest one. We have no idea how far things will progress. Like I said, no one like us has ever existed before.” 

“What about Jon?” 

“He only started getting powers a few months ago,” Jordan answered. “We thought he might get to stay normal but nope. Remember when he ran off the field in the middle of that game last June?” 

She did. It had been the talk of Smallville High for a few days after that. He’d claimed to be sick but, as she was now learning, that probably wasn’t the true cause. 

“His super hearing kicked in right after half-time,” Jordan noted with a sympathetic wince. “It was awful. He says it’s pretty overwhelming sometimes, but he’s good at controlling it now. He has sped now too. I’m stronger, but he’s faster. It all balances out.”

That was the Kent boys to a T. They always did seem to balance each other out, the perfect team. 

“Wow,” she breathed, doing her best to take it all in. 

It was a lot but, somehow, everything just seemed to fit. She probably should have been more overwhelmed than she was currently feeling but the overriding feeling at the moment was really just awe. 

Sarah walked back over the the hay bale and sat down, watching as Jordan followed her path. 

He took a seat next her her, his warm frame nestled snugly beside hers. She lay her head on his shoulder for a moment and they simply sat, letting their bodies return to calm. 

“So...you’re okay with all of this?” He asked. There was still a slight nervousness there, but she could tell that he was not as anxious has he had been before. “You don’t mind dating a weird alien freak?” 

She snorted at his blunt assessment. 

He always seemed to put things as straightforwardly as possible. 

“You’ve always been weird, that’s why I love you,” she teased, sticking out her tongue. “Nothing has changed as far as I’m concerned.” 

He laughed before letting out a sigh of relief. He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close and placing a gentle kiss on top of her head. 

“I’m really sorry about today, Sarah. I never should have left you there but I was totally overwhelmed and I knew you’d seen me. I thought you’d never want to speak to me again. You finding out and seeing me as a freak has been my biggest fear since forever.” 

“I’ll forgive you eventually,” she said, smiling into his chest, “Superboy.” 

He gave a loud groan and she laughed again. It was always fun to push his buttons and now she had a whole new angle to take. 

This was going to be fun. 

“After everything I did today I can’t complain,” he muttered dejectedly, “but don’t say that in front of dad. I don’t want him getting any ideas.” 

There was another pause before he spoke again, his voice suddenly more upbeat than it had been before. 

“Hey Sarah?” He began, looking down towards her, “wanna see me lift up the pickup truck?” 

She could tell that he was particularly proud of this feat and, truth be told, she was eager to see a non-emergency demonstration of his powers. 

It would probably take her a bit of time to wrap her head around everything, but this would be a start. 

“Sure,” she said, her smile wide, “I’d love to.” 


End file.
